The ''other'' famous band from UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}}, Sigur Rós are an AlternativeRock band commonly classified as "[[PostRock post-rock]]", known for their ethereal sound and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's distinctive falsetto voice.

Sigur Rós were formed in 1994 by Jónsi, Georg and Ágúst, taking their name from Jónsi's younger sister Sigurrós (Icelandic for "victory rose") Elin. Drawing their main influences from DreamPop and {{Shoegazing}} bands, the band signed with the Smekkleysa (Bad Taste) label and released one album, ''Von'', in 1997. Known more for its drawn-out, torturous recording than its actual songs, ''Von'' largely falls under the banner of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness as far as many fans, critics and even the band are concerned. A remix album, ''Von brigði'', followed a year later.

After recruiting classically trained keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson, the band released ''Ágætis byrjun'' in 1999. It was with this album that the band perfected its SignatureStyle, fully integrating Kjarri's lush orchestration with their DreamPop[=/=]{{Shoegazing}} sound and introducing Jónsi's method of playing his guitar with a cello bow (a method previously popularised by [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]]) for a more atmospheric sound. The replacement of drummer Ágúst with Orri Páll Dýrason shortly after the album's release proved not to be too dramatic. They recorded two more albums with largely the same musical style, ''( )'' and ''Takk...'', swinging between DarkerAndEdgier and LighterAndSofter, before settling for a more stripped-down, direct sound with ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust''.

After scrapping the recordings for the album that they intended to release in 2010 and taking a two-year hiatus, the band dropped ''Valtari'', a much more ambient, dreamlike album compared to ''Með suð''. Later in the year, they announced via a Reddit Q&A session that keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson had left the band permanently, making the group a trio. According to them, Kjartan said "he had spent his whole life in the band and it was time to do something different", but remained on good terms with his former bandmates. The band then released a brand-new track called "Brennisteinn" for their upcoming album, ''Kveikur'', to be released in June 2013. So far, it seems to be shaping up to be a NewSoundAlbum of sorts, incorperating elements of {{Industrial}} music, and it has even been described by Georg Hólm as "an anti-''Valtari''".

Hallmarks of the band's sound include: a wall of guitars, keyboards and violins, Jónsi's high-pitched, [[CocteauTwins Liz Fraser]]-sounding falsetto voice, use of bowed guitar, frequent use of a [[SingingSimlish made-up nonsense language]] named "Vonlenska" ("hopelandic"), dramatic crescendos and dynamics, and success despite the fact that most of their audience most likely doesn't understand a lick of their lyrics. Yes, they're ''[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome that good]]''.

There are also two [[{{Rockumentary}} documentary]]/concert [=DVDs=]:* ''Film/{{Heima}}'' (2006), which follows the band through Iceland as they play free concerts to their compatriots.* ''{{Inni}}'' (2011), which was filmed at a concert they did in London in 2008, [[LeFilmArtistique shot in black-and-white with arty camera angles]], and interspersed with some archive footage of the band.----!Tropes:* AlbumIntroTrack: ''Ágætis byrjun'' has one; the title track of ''Takk...'' is effectively this as well. * AlbumTitleDrop: "Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm)" has not only a title drop for its parent album, but also the two previous ones: ''með '''von''' að vin ég vinn upp smá tíma/leita að '''ágætis byrjun'''/en verð að '''vonbrigðum''''' ("With hope as my friend I make up some time/I look for an alright beginning/But I will be disappointed").** The liner notes to the album "Ágætis byrjun" also contains the line: ''Ég gaf ykkur '''von''' sem varð að '''vonbrigðum'''. Þetta er '''ágætis byrjun'''.'' ("I gave you hope which became a disappointment. This is a good beginning") The second sentence is also used in the track of the album with the same name.* {{Adorkable}}: They are infamous for being terrible at interviews. * CarefulWithThatAxe: At the end of "Hún Jörð"* ContemptibleCover: The naked butts on the cover of ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust''. Not a marketing ploy, and not intended to shock or tittilate; they're just really into naturism (as evidenced in the decidedly NSFW video for "Gobbledigook"). Still, it's gotta be awkward when someone unfamiliar with the band stumbles across it while perusing your music collection.* CoverVersion: The single release of "Ný batterí" includes among its B-sides a cover of "Dánarfregnir og Jarðarfarir" ("News of Death and Funerals"), a [[TopTenJingle theme played before obituary announcements]] on Iceland's national public broadcaster RÚV, and "Bíum bíum bambaló", a rendition of a traditional Icelandic lullaby.* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Kveikur''.* DownerEnding: The video for "Viðrar vel til loftárása" ends with [[spoiler:two boys [[StarCrossedLovers being pulled away from each other]] by their fathers after said fathers see them kiss]].* DreamPop: Moreso in their early days, but really all of it is great to fall asleep to. Well, ''almost'' all of it.* DroneOfDread: "Sigur Ros," the self-titled opening track of ''Von'', and the outro to "Kveikur"* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Von''. The album is a series of drones and sound experiments, sprinkled with heavily reverberated, Cocteau Twins-esque dream pop.* EchoingAcoustics* EpicRocking: Frequent. ''Takk...'' and ''Með suð'' were the first albums to include more songs of a reasonable 3-5 minute length. "Untitled #8 (Popplagið)" deserves special mention though: the entire 12-minute song is basically one big crescendo.* GayAesop: [[spoiler:The ending to the video for "Viðrar vel til loftárása"]].* GenreBusting: They're categorized as "PostRock" because that's the only thing that comes even remotely close. Crescendos are a significant element in their songs, after all.** "Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm)", from ''Ágætis byrjun'', combines the band's usual {{Shoegazing}} bombast with a BluesRock keyboard riff and Jónsi playing the harmonica.** The first song they premiered from ''Kveikur'', "Brennisteinn," takes their usual mix of ethereal sounds and adds IndustrialMetal into it. ''[[DarkerAndEdgier Yeah.]]''** ''Kveikur'' as a whole can be argued as their harshest and heaviest album and simultaneously as being their poppiest album behind ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.''* IndecipherableLyrics: If you don't speak Icelandic, you're in for this. Even if you speak Icelandic, you're in for this whenever Jónsi busts out the Vonlenska.* IThoughtThatWas: If you see that one of their songs is titled "Heysátan", that's Icelandic for "haystack". Nothing to do with [[RockMeAsmodeus the other guy]].* ItsPronouncedTroPAY: According to their Web site, it's pronounced: "si-ur (see-oor) roas (as in roast)."* LampshadeHanging: The song title "Gobbledigook". Let it never be said that these guys don't have a sense of humor about the whole made-up language thing.* LastNoteNightmare: ''Avalon''. After you've finally adjusted to the slow and haunting tempo, weird clanking noises come in.** Considering that the entire song is a [[FridgeBrilliance slowed down instrumental section of Starálfur]], those 'clanking noises' are just the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bf4FuhguOM&feature=related strums of a guitar]] .** Just be thankful they didn't use the [[LastNoteNightmare actual]] [[HellIsThatNoise ending]] of Starálfur.** ''Dido'' has a ''very'' [[MoodWhiplash jarring]] and extreme one that lasts about two minutes.** ''Valtari'' has a big one on "Ég anda".** "Kveikur" ends with an extremely distorted DroneOfDread. They sure do like these.** "Hrafntinna" actually [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this. It definitely goes into one after the last chorus, as the song slowly falls apart until it's only the drums and hellish drones when Jonsi's distorted voice comes in but fades into a very mournful, but soothing horn section. "Brennestein" ends similarly, with a similarly downplayed but much more triumphant sounding horn section at the end.* LeFilmArtistique: For ''Valtari'', the band had a project they called "the valtari mystery film experiment" in which they hired multiple directors and gave them each the same modest budget and allowed them each to make a video based on the first thing they thought of for each song on ''Valtari'' with absolute creative freedom and control without any input from the band. Most of the videos ended up being this.* LighterAndSofter: After the success of several heartwarming songs on ''Takk...'', their next album ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust'' is considerably more upbeat and poppy.* LimitedLyricsSong: Taken UpToEleven with ''( )'', where ''every single song'' has the same lyrics, which is one line repeated in several different ways. See SingingSimlish below.* LongTitle: ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust''* LuckyCharmsTitle[=/=]NoTitle: ''( )''.* LyricalDissonance: At least, for English speakers, one might be disappointed to look up translations to many of their songs' lyrics and find that they are [[MundaneMadeAwesome oddly mundane, contrasting with the grandiosity of their music]]. Especially "Ágætis Byrjun", which is about the bands' disappointment after [[OldShame they found that their first album sounded crappy.]]** "Hrafntinna" provides a ''doozy'' of one. While the song sounds quite mournful and a bit depressing, it still fits in with their usual output and has a very catchy melody. The lyrics are pure apocalyptic horror.* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: The band generally stays extremely low, in the 1-to-5 range, but "Brennestein" is roughly an 8, and if it weren't for the vocals could even be a 9. "Kveikur" as well would be a 9 (with moments of 10, especially [[LastNoteNightmare the ending]]) if it weren't for the EarWorm chorus keeping it teetering between 8 and 9.* MundaneMadeAwesome: They write majestic-sounding songs about the oddest things. Case in point: probably their most popular song "Hoppipolla", an incredibly epic piece that even non-fans consider CrowningMusicOfAwesome - it's about how much Jonsi enjoys jumping in puddles, even though it gives him a nosebleed.* NightmareFace: The baby on the cover for ''Von''.* NonIndicativeName: "Viðrar vel til loftárása" is Icelandic for "Good weather for an airstrike", which title-wise is in a completely different universe from the [[{{Gayngst}} song]] [[TearJerker it]][[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming self]]. The band got the title from a weatherman sarcastically reporting "Today: good weather for an airstrike" while NATO was bombing Serbia during [[TheYugoslavWars the Kosovo War]]. (In a freaky coincidence, ''Ágætis byrjun'' was actually released on 12 June 1999, the day Slobodan Miloević agreed to withdraw the Serbian forces and UN peacekeepers began being deployed in Kosovo.)** The same goes for "Með blóðnasir", which is awfully cheerful for a song named literally "With a {{Nosebleed}}".** And "Popplagið" isn't what you could in any way call a pop song.* NoTitle: The album ''( )''. Its songs are generally referred to as "Untitled #1", "Untitled #2" and so on, with alternate names used by the band to identify them.* OminousMusicBoxTune: "Sæglópur".* [[OneWomanWail One Man Wail]]* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The band members are usually referred to by the shortened nicknames listed above, since their actual names may be more difficult to pronounce for non-Icelanders.* {{Portmantitle}}: Inverted - they actually split the name Sigurrós.* PrecisionFStrike: "Heysátan" has two: "Eg hef slegið fjandans nóg" (I've mowed fucking enough) and "Og mér fótur rann... Andskotann" (I slipped... fuck).* PunBasedTitle: ''Von brigði'' separately means "Hope Alteration" (fitting, since it's a remix album), while ''Vonbrigði'' joined together means "disappointment" (reflecting the band's feelings about ''Von'').** The song ''Svefn-g-englar'': Svefngenglar simply means "Sleepwalkers." Englar also means "Angels," so the title is a forced pun and can be translated as "Sleepwalking Angels"* RecordProducer: There is no real information about who produced ''Von'' so we have to assume it was self-produced, all of the band's albums from ''Ágætis byrjun'' to ''Takk'' were co-produced by the band and Ken Thomas, ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust'' was co-produced by the band and Mark "Flood" Ellis, and ''Valtari'' was co-produced by the band and Jónsi's [[CreatorCouple partner]], Alex Somers.* {{Rockumentary}}: ''Heima''* SdrawkcabName: "Rukrym," a HiddenTrack on ''Von'', which is fittingly the a section of the song "Myrkur" [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin played backwards.]]* {{Shoegazing}}* SingingSimlish: Vonlenska.** [[LuckyCharmsTitle ( ) ]] is completely made up of Vonlenska; the lyrics are made up of the following phrase, and various permutations of it: You xylo. You xylo no fi lo. You So. For [[EpicRocking an hour, twelve minutes and 5 seconds.]]* SoloSideProject: Jonsi has released ''Go'', a distinctly more electronic-sounding album than the band's usual Post-Rock output.* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Jónsi takes a crack at English-language lyrics with "All Alright". Apart from a bit of a thick accent, he doesn't fare that bad. Actually, the entire ''Með suð'' album could count, since they ventured out of their Icelandic studio, worked with a different producer and toned down their immense sound somewhat.** ''Kveikur'' took the band DarkerAndEdgier than anyone expected, and has the band singing about the horrors of the apocalypse.* StageNames: Understandable since most of their audience aren't Icelandic speakers.* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: "All Alright".** The majority of Jonsi's solo album ''Go''.* SurrealHorror: Most of the lyrics on ''Kveikur'' and the video for "Brennestein"* SurrealMusicVideo: Quite a few.* '''SweetDreamsFuel''': After they spent most of their discography utterly mastering this trope by the time of ''Valtari,'' they [[DarkerAndEdgier completely abandoned it for]] ''[[DarkerAndEdgier Kveikur.]]''* TextlessAlbumCover: All of their albums between 1997 and 2002. ''( )'' was the first to put text on the cover.* TheSomethingSong: Some of the alternate names used by the band for the songs on ''( )'' -"Fyrsta" ("First Song"), "Dauðalagið" ("The Death Song") and "Popplagið" ("The Pop Song").** Additionally, the working titles for "Hljómalind" and "Hoppípolla" were "Rokklagið" (The Rock Song) and "The Money Song," respectively, "Rokklagið" for being the most rock-like out of their songs, and "The Money Song" for the band's certainty that the song would be commercially successful.** The live album ''Inni'' also features "Lúppulagið" (The Loop Song), which would eventually become "Varðeldur" on ''Valtari''.* ThemeNaming: All of the songs on ''Kveikur'' have an elemental theme to them, as well as being related to the geography of Iceland. "Brennestein" translates to "Brimstone," "Hrafntinna" to "Obsidian," "Ísjaki" to "Iceberg," and so forth, with the exception of the title track (which translates to "Candlewick") and the Japanese bonus tracks.* TitleTrack: All their albums except ''()'' and ''Hvarf/Heim'' (if that counts as a proper album) have one... or in the case of ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust'', two. * UncommonTime: All over the place on ''Takk''. From TheOtherWiki:-->"In the track "Andvari" for example, the main melody repeats itself every 27 beats, with stress on beats 1, 5, 9, 11, 16, 20 and 25. This could be rendered as seven bars of 4, 4, 2, 5, 4, 5 and 3 beats respectively. Against this there is a steady counter-rhythm of triple time, which could be rendered as eighteen bars of 3/8 time per 27-beat cycle."* TheUnpronounceable: Their names, song titles, album titles, lyrics... hell, nearly everything.** To the point where their official site has an Icelandic pronounciation guide.* {{WAFF}}: If one band can be described as this trope, it's most likely them.* WhamShot: [[spoiler:The two soccer playing boys kissing]] in the video for "Viðrar vel til loftárása"* WordSaladLyrics: "All Alright". Understandable, since apart from Georg, who lived in the UK for a while, the others' English is lacking.** Some of their Icelandic lyrics as well.* XMeetsY: Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor meets Music/{{Enya}} and Music/{{Radiohead}}----